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Help develop a Bird ID tool!

Acorn Woodpecker

Melanerpes formicivorus ORDER: PICIFORMES FAMILY: PICIDAE

IUCN Conservation Status: Least Concern

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The clown-faced Acorn Woodpecker is a common bird of western oak forests. It lives in extended family groups, and all members of the group spend hours and hours storing thousands of acorns in carefully tended holes in trees and telephone poles.

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Appearance

Woodpeckers
Woodpeckers
Typical Voice

Adult Description

  • Medium-sized woodpecker.
  • Back and chest black.
  • Head black, white, and red.

Male Description

Red from nape to white forehead.

Female Description

Rear of crown red. Forehead white, separated from red by black area.

Immature Description

Juvenile similar to adult male, but with dark eye.

Range Map Help

Acorn Woodpecker Range Map
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Field MarksHelp

  • Adult male
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    Acorn Woodpecker

    Adult male
    • Large, dark woodpecker
    • Solid black back
    • "Clown-like" facial pattern with red crown and glowing yellow eye
    • White breast streaked with black
    • © Bob Gunderson, Winters, California, February 2011
  • Adult female
    Zoom In

    Acorn Woodpecker

    Adult female
    • Large and heavy-billed woodpecker
    • Distinctive facial pattern with glowing yellow eye
    • Black streaked breast
    • Female shows less extensive red on crown
    • © Fritz Fucik, Cartago, Costa Rica, June 2011
  • Adult male
    Zoom In

    Acorn Woodpecker

    Adult male
    • Large, black-backed woodpecker
    • Male has extensive red crown
    • Glowing yellow eye with contrasting facial pattern
    • White patch visible on folded wing
    • © Glenn Bartley, Socorro, New Mexico, November 2010
  • Adult male
    Zoom In

    Acorn Woodpecker

    Adult male
    • Large, heavy-billed woodpecker
    • Distinctive facial pattern with pale yellow eye
    • Male has extensive red crown
    • Solid black back with white rump and white patch on wings
    • © Ganesh Jayaraman, Los Altos, California, June 2010
  • Adult
    Zoom In

    Acorn Woodpecker

    Adult
    • Solid black back
    • White breast streaked with black
    • Contrasting "clown-like" facial pattern
    • Red crown
    • © Kat, San Dimas, California, October 2010
  • Adult
    Zoom In

    Acorn Woodpecker

    Adult
    • Large, black-backed woodpecker
    • White patch usually visible on folded wing
    • Red crown
    • Obvious pale yellow eye
    • © Stephen Ramirez, Cochise County, Arizona, August 2010

Similar Species

  • No other woodpecker has a black back, white belly, and black-white-and-red face pattern.
  • White-headed Woodpecker has all-black body and an all-white face.

    You Might Also Like

    Going Nutty for Acorn Woodpeckers: Story and photographs in Living Bird magazine

    Free love and family conflict in cooperative Acorn Woodpeckers: Story in BirdScope.